What He Deserved
by chalantness
Summary: He was sure someone out there was mocking him, and he was pissed because he deserved it. Spoilers up to "Rose" 2x08


**Fandom.** TylerCaroline, with a little anti-MattCaroline (you have been warned)

Disclaimer: Vampire Diaries © L.J. Smith

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**What He Deserved**

By sakuracherish814

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He shouldn't have felt jealous. After all, _he_ was the one that broke up with _her_.

But "jealous" was really the only word that described that dreading feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw _them_. Initially, his eyes had been transfixed on the locker, taking in the flowers and candles and teddy bears and dozens upon dozens of cards surrounding the poster that had the face of Sarah Walsh smiling back at them.

That night had been a blur to him.

He remembered going there, mingling, talking with Elena, having drinks with Aimee, Sarah, and Tyler—

And then the rest was hazy, as if he were trying to see through smudged lenses. He vaguely remembered arguing, and fighting, and Tyler and Caroline yelling. But that was it.

However, when his eyes had wandered absently along with his thoughts, they settled upon a face he knew all too well. She looked perfect, of course. Even the way her forehead creased in concern and her lip stuck out slightly in worry was just perfect.

But that was when he saw _him_.

Tyler Lockwood.

Sure, their friendship was rocky, and involved a lot of punches and a lot of hurt.

But seeing his (somewhat) best friend and his girlfriend (_Ex_-girlfriend, he meant. She was his ex.) together was probably the hardest blow of them all.

They seemed to be arguing, which was expected of them.

Except this argument seemed different. It wasn't playful or childish. They weren't yelling. It wasn't the way the two of them had been arguing since they had all been in pre-school together. He could tell by their expressions that whatever they were talking about was something personal. It was something deep and strictly between the both of them.

_Them_—Tyler and Caroline.

Not him.

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His eyes were on her (because they haven't seemed capable of leaving her since their break-up) and he just watched her mingling idly with some friends.

"Lockwood, over here!"

He turned his attention from Caroline and toward the courts.

Usually, he would've been out there with the rest of them, sweating underneath the blazing sun and playing his heart out as if it were a playoff game that everything was riding on instead of just a couple of guys messing around after school. But Tyler was there and, for some unknown reason, they were keeping their distance.

So he watched as they passed the basketball around, dribbling and shoving each other, laughing.

But, as Tyler got the ball, he leapt up and dunked it into the hoop as if it was nothing. The backboard quivered at the contact, and Tyler let go, landing back on his feet.

_When did he learn to do that?_

This obviously caught the attention of some of the others as they passed back the ball.

However, as Tyler dribbled, his eyes caught sight of something—or rather, some_one_—else, and the game was long forgotten.

_What is he—_

And that's when he saw her. Caroline.

She walked away from her friends with a wave of her fingers, and it was easy to see the intensity of Tyler's stare. Absently, his fingers curled tightly into a fist around his backpack strap as he watched Tyler pass off the ball, heading towards where she had disappeared behind a vacant school bus.

What? No.

No.

It couldn't have _meant_ anything.

He shook his head. He was merely overreacting. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence. Maybe Tyler was really trying to chase down Caroline, but it could've been something completely different. Besides, this was Caroline and Tyler, here. He knew what Tyler thought of her. It wasn't possible. Right?

"_Look, you know what I think of Caroline Forbes. She's an insecure, neurotic, bitchy little twit. But the girl's got heart. She means well. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad."_

He flinched.

No, it still wasn't possible. Nothing could be going on between them.

It was his jealousy getting the best of him.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the loud clanging of metal followed by the sound of a car alarm going off. Tyler stalked from behind the bus, looking over his shoulder at something with an intense stare before facing forward and disappearing into the parking lot, people immediately parting as he came, not wanting to be in his enraged path.

He'd been right. Tyler was just causing trouble. It was just more senseless dramatic fighting that the both of them loved to create. Nothing more.

But, when he looked back, he saw Caroline walking in the opposite direction, wiping away at something.

She was crying.

She stopped herself, looking over her shoulder at Tyler's retreating figure, and wiped another tear.

No.

He was wrong. Something was up. There was definitely something more.

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Tyler Lockwood was seen breaking into the Forbes household.

At least, that was what people had been whispering about at The Grill, and what one of his classmates from school had confirmed. "I almost didn't see him. But I knew that was Tyler. His car was parked right across the street."

He shook his head. "Nah, man, that doesn't necessarily _mean_ anything." But he wasn't entirely convinced, himself.

"Maybe. But you got to admit, it's still strange for Tyler to be over there at all. He's usually out."

He couldn't argue with that.

So, out of curiosity, he drove by Caroline's house.

Sure enough, Tyler's truck was parked across the street and Caroline's in her driveway. Sheriff Forbes's car was nowhere to be found.

_It doesn't mean anything._

He repeated this like an incantation in his head.

Should he really go have a look to see? He didn't want to be that boyfriend who dumps the girl and then gets instantly jealous the moment she is with another guy. Of course, he'd already crossed that line. _Just a quick check._

His first mistake.

He saw them through the curtains of the window that looked into the living room from the side of the house.

She poured them some drinks and they were talking, taking sips and mostly avoiding eye contact. The tension between the two of them was practically visible. He could almost feel it in the air even from outside. But his curiosity as to why they were there and what they were talking about was long forgotten when they stopped talking altogether, wrapping their arms around each other.

_Oh._

He tried to tell himself that it was a friendly gesture. And it would've made sense, too. Having drinks, serious conversations—it would've been a typical friend-comforting-another-friend kind of situation.

But then they kissed.

At first, his eyes were locked on them in pure shock.

But then his hands curled into fists, his jaw set, and he felt his blood boil. He was sure someone out there was mocking him, and he was pissed because he deserved it.

He slinked back into the shadows beside the house as the kiss became more heated, unable to watch any longer. As he made his way back to his car, he could've sworn he heard giggling, a female voice, and a male one chuckling deeply, perfectly harmonized with her.

"_Karma's a bitch."_

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**A/n.** Okay, don't get me wrong—I didn't mean to sound so hateful of Matt, because I don't hate him in the slightest.

But I had written a jealousy fic similarly to this (where the ex observes mournfully from the sidelines) and it had been interesting, and I'd gotten a lot of positive reviews, so I thought it might be fun to write another. And, because their kiss in the end never happened on the show and is from my "extended version" of the ending scene in my fic _Rose_, I guess this is a prequel? Sequel?

Well, you get the idea.

_So you read it. Love it? Hate it? Please review it!_


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